1201https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/128091c0132943b097e1f2f5a77a9529e6315d97531ed79307995e49ec754288PDF TextText��������Dublin CoreThe Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.TitleA name given to the resourceAl-Kown [The Universe]SubjectThe topic of the resourceArabs--United States--PeriodicalsNewspapers--United StatesDescriptionAn account of the resource<h5>Introduction</h5>
<p><i><span style="font-weight:400;">Al-Kown</span></i><span style="font-weight:400;"> [</span><i><span style="font-weight:400;">The Universe</span></i><span style="font-weight:400;">] was an Arabic-language newspaper published weekly in New York City by Najeeb Sawaya, Nafi Adham, and Hafiz Malik. It was published in Manhattan’s Syrian Colony, at 60-62 Washington Street from 1907 until 1910. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">The leading proprietor of the paper, Najeeb Anton Sawaya, was born in Damascus in 1870 in what was then Greater Syria. According to his own testimony, he arrived in the United States in March 1897 aboard the </span><i><span style="font-weight:400;">Rotterdam</span></i><span style="font-weight:400;">, a steamship operated by the Holland America Line that departed from the Netherlands. One year later, in 1898, his wife Labeeba arrived. Sawaya became a naturalized citizen of the United States in June 1904 in Jersey City, New Jersey. In the decade following his arrival, Sawaya worked as a merchant, selling a variety of goods ranging from cigars and tobacco to mirrors and novelties. During this time, Sawaya, his wife, and their daughter Nazaly (born 1898), lived in Jersey City, Manhattan, and then Brooklyn. In 1905, two years prior to the inaugural issue of </span><i><span style="font-weight:400;">al-Kown</span></i><span style="font-weight:400;">, Sawaya was listed as a bookkeeper. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Sawaya was also involved in politics, and appears to have been particularly committed to opposing the Ottoman Empire. Spearheading a delegation of five like-minded Syrians, Sawaya filed charges against Mundji Bey, the Turkish Consular-General stationed in New York City, in March 1909 with his superiors in Washington D.C. Bey, a member of the Young Turks Party, was accused of being “arrogant and overbearing in his relations” and having imposed excessive charges for common services performed at the consulate. Sawaya and the other Syrian delegates also supposedly claimed that Bey wrote a letter to the commissioner of Ellis Island asking that the immigration officers there “place difficulties” in the path of Turkish subjects arriving to the U.S. Several years later, in April 1912, reports surfaced that Sawaya, and </span><i><span style="font-weight:400;">al-Kown</span></i><span style="font-weight:400;"> more specifically, had been the subject of a libel suit seeking $200,000 in damages brought against them by the Ottoman Chamber of Commerce for their articles and comments about Bey and the Turkish government. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">He was a founding member of </span><i><span style="font-weight:400;">Suriya el-Fetat </span></i><span style="font-weight:400;">(Young Syria Party), a political group centered in New York formed with the purpose of recruiting Syrian-American men and preparing them to support, from afar, a potential revolution against the Ottomans (Jacobs, 384). Though the group promised anonymity for their members—an assurance of protection from the fear of Ottoman retaliation against themselves and family members who remained in the homeland—the organizing members’ names were reported in New York newspapers in 1899 and 1900. Najeeb Sawaya was among them, along with Nassib Shibley, Esau el-Khoury, and Shibli N. Dammous. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Following the end of </span><i><span style="font-weight:400;">al-Kown</span></i><span style="font-weight:400;">’s publication in 1910, Sawaya continued to work as an editor, at least until 1912, although it is unclear which newspaper he worked for or where it was published. On January 28, 1914, Sawaya died while travelling in Birr-Hassan, Mt. Lebanon. He was interred in the Ras-el-Nabeh Cemetery in Beirut, a cemetery that has since been destroyed. </span></p>
<p><i><span style="font-weight:400;">Al-Kown </span></i><span style="font-weight:400;">was a short-lived publication. On the masthead the newspaper is described as a “Political, Social, Commercial, Literature, and Critical newspaper.” Initially, articles were divided into geographical and topical sections such as “local” (United States); current events; news about markets and business; “Syrian News,” about the Middle East; and literature, including partial novels, poetry, and short stories. These articles were very brief, sometimes only 1-2 lines, but later grew to contain longer, more detailed stories. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Despite the initial brevity of its articles, </span><i><span style="font-weight:400;">al-Kown </span></i><span style="font-weight:400;">was published with a distinct viewpoint. The editors often made critical remarks and rebuttals to other New York City Arabic newspapers, including </span><i><span style="font-weight:400;">Mira’at al-Gharb </span></i><span style="font-weight:400;">and </span><i><span style="font-weight:400;">al-Hoda</span></i><span style="font-weight:400;">, themselves frequent opponents. </span><i><span style="font-weight:400;">Al-Kown</span></i><span style="font-weight:400;"> also remarked on views published by </span><i><span style="font-weight:400;">al-Jamaya </span></i><span style="font-weight:400;">and particularly critiqued </span><i><span style="font-weight:400;">al-Muhajer</span></i><span style="font-weight:400;">, especially its owner Ameen al-Ghareeb. The newspaper leans pro-Orthodox, at times defending both individuals and doctrine of the Orthodox faith; it also reported frequently on activities of Orthodox groups, including the establishment of hospitals, charity work, and meetings that took place. The newspaper also includes sections of advertisements of New York City businesses. Though lesser known than the newspapers with which the editors of </span><i><span style="font-weight:400;">al-Kown </span></i><span style="font-weight:400;">engaged, this small publication nonetheless represents the political and religious diversity of the early twentieth-century immigrant communities.</span></p>
<h5>Scope and Content</h5>
<span><span><span><span>The Khayrallah Center holds January 1, 1907-December 23, 1910</span></span><br /></span></span>CreatorAn entity primarily responsible for making the resourceNajeeb SawayaPublisherAn entity responsible for making the resource availableMoise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora StudiesDateA point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resourceDonor retains full ownership of any and all copyright currently controlled in agreement with Khayrallah Center. Nonexclusive right to authorize all uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA).Alternative TitleAn alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific.Al-KawnReferencesA related resource that is referenced, cited, or otherwise pointed to by the described resource.Linda K. Jacobs, <em>Strangers in the West: The Syrian Colony of New York City, 1880-1900</em>. Kalimah Press: New York, 2015.ContributorAn entity responsible for making contributions to the resourceCollection description written by Claire A. Kempa and Marilyn M. DrathNewspaperA historic or contemporary newspaper, either in full issue or clipping.Dublin CoreThe Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.IdentifierAn unambiguous reference to the resource within a given contextkown_19080109TitleA name given to the resourceAl-Kown vol. 2 no. 52DescriptionAn account of the resourceAn issue of al-Kown dated January 9, 1908.DateA point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resourceJanuary 1908CoverageThe spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant60-62 Washington St., New York, New YorkSubjectThe topic of the resourceArabs--United States--Periodicals Newspapers--United StatesCreatorAn entity primarily responsible for making the resourceNageeb A. SawayaSourceA related resource from which the described resource is derivedLibrary of CongressPublisherAn entity responsible for making the resource availableMoise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora StudiesFormatThe file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resourceText/pdfLanguageA language of the resourceArabicTypeThe nature or genre of the resourceTextRightsInformation about rights held in and over the resourceDonor retains full ownership of any and all copyright currently controlled in agreement with Khayrallah Center. Nonexclusive right to authorize all uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA).1900's1907 Bankers' Panic1908Ayyubid DynastyDiplomatsFinancial CrisesKnickerbocker CrisisMohammed Ali Bey al-AbedNageeb A. SawayaNew YorkNew York, New YorkNewspapersPanic of 1907SaladinSalah ad-Din al AyyubiSawayaSpainUnited Statesازمة ماليةاسبانياالايوبيونالدولة الأيوبيةالولايات المتحدةدبلوماسيونصلاح الدين الايوبيمحمد علي العابد